


Close Enough

by nintendonut1



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Angst, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Friendship, Gen, M/M, Platonic Relationships, Post-The Eleventh Hour, Swearing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-02
Updated: 2016-11-02
Packaged: 2018-08-28 14:41:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,902
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8450335
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nintendonut1/pseuds/nintendonut1
Summary: Taako is giving the whole "Friendship" thing a try, but Magnus is being weird and difficult.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Contains Eleventh Hour spoilers!

Taako would never admit it, but he was extremely intimidated at the thought of making friends.

He’d thought long and hard about it, though. See, it’s a funny thing; when you, supposedly, pull off the kind of atrocities he did and kill several people, you tend to believe you don’t deserve nice and meaningful things. Like friends, for instance.

But then, unexpected things in life happen. You watch an entire town get glassed by madman with a ridiculously overpowered gauntlet, and then you and the two partners you figured you’d never see again after this mission are whisked away to like, save the world, and stuff. Multiple times, even!

And _then_ , you find out, hey! You _didn’t_ kill all those people! It was the supposed friend that you’d convinced yourself you never deserved, and whom you couldn’t blame when he left. And a screwed-up part of you still can’t.

The same part of you that finds it hard to believe that a goddamn _bounty hunter of death_ enjoyed your company enough to express a desire to see you again.

Taako considered all of this, and was beginning to think that, huh, you know what, maybe he _did_ deserve it after all. He was smart, and charming, and funny, and talented, and he sure wasn’t about to deny any of that, no sir. It was just… tricky. Considering how he tried so hard before, to be pleasant and appealing to everyone while still keep them at arm’s length.

Not close enough to hurt. Or _be_ hurt. Or at the very least, disappointed.

But! Things were gonna be different!! A new approach, a new Taako, Friend-Buddy-Pal Extraordinaire. It couldn’t be too hard, right? Not for him.

And what better place to start then his two amigos right next door? Especially Magnus, oh man. That guy was always chomping at the friendship bit, and Taako felt kinda bad whenever he’d politely decline hangouts. He hid them well, but the elf always caught Magnus’ brief moments of disappointment, and it was like kicking a poor, giant puppy.

But not tonight! Tonight, on one of their rare days off from intensive training, Taako stood outside the door leading to the human’s private dormitory, after some time of psyching himself up to get up and _do it_ , and knocked a knuckle against the pale wood. “Yo, Magno! You in there?”

He listened for noise behind the door, and after a very long and terrible moment, his long ears twitched at the sounds of shuffling within. Alright cool, he’s there, step one cleared. Now to face his unbridled excitement.

Magnus soon opened the door, and looked decidedly not very excited to see him. “…Taako? Is something up?”

“What’s--wuh? Nah! No, no, I’m just, hey, what’s up, my man??” Already thrown off course in step two, Taako leaned against the door frame with his hands in his pockets and a lopsided grin, trying to get this back on track. “Whatcha been up to??”

“Uhh… I guess, not much?” What the fuck dude why was Magnus staring at him like that. He didn’t grow a second head or anything.

Taako kept the awkward grin going desperately. “That’s cool, can I join in?”

Magnus blinked, very slowly. “…sure? I guess?” He glanced inside his dorm briefly, deemed it acceptable, and then moved away from the door. “Come on in.”

Before following him inside, Taako squinted at the back of the tall human’s head in confusion. What was this, now? ‘Sure, I guess’? The elf had expected Magnus to eagerly drag him inside and… oh, I don’t know, flex his muscles or goad him into wrestling with him or something. Something goofy and rambunctious and _Magnus_.

But his fighter companion simply heaved himself back into his seat at a well-crafted, pale wooden table, and set back to work on crafting with more pale wood. He liked the texture of moon-wood, he once said.

“Ooooh, carving tonight, huh?” Taako took a chair across from Magnus and began step three, which he figured was engaging in a friend’s interests. No brainer, honestly. “In my humble opinion, that doesn’t count as ‘not much.’”

“Yeah?” Finally, a modest smile graced Magnus’ face. Not as big as it should have been, though. “Aww, it’s no big thing. I’m just doing it to relax and pass some time.”

One of Taako’s ears twitched up uneasily. Weird. Weird weird weird. “What’re you makin’?”

“A fish,” he replied simply, looking over his current piece thoughtfully.

“A fish.”

“Yeah. A _baby_ fish.”

“A fishling? Fishlet? Fish-joey? Tadpole?”

“Pffffhehehe.”

That was the quietest chuckle Taako had ever heard come out of the behemoth, and frankly now he was starting to grow uncomfortable. His legs crossed under the table, and fingers tapped idly on the surface as he watched Magnus whittle away at the wood.

“Is, uh. Is something up with _you_ , dude?”

“Nah.” Magnus didn’t even look up at that. “I’m fine.”

Yeah, right. Taako had heard that coming out of his own mouth enough not to believe that. Now he just felt weird. This was weird and awkward and terrible now. Two sets of eyes were glued to the makings of a wooden fish in strong, careful hands, and neither had any gumption to meet one another. The hell was even happening here?

Taako actually wanted this friendship thing to happen. So why was Magnus being so weird and difficult all the sudden? It made no sense. 

* * *

Things made just as little sense on Magnus’ end.

Occasionally, he’d shoot a glance up at his unexpected guest across the table. Taako, for whatever reason, seemed intent on spending some time with him, but he clearly looked… well, off, at the very least. It was hard for Magnus to get an exact read on him, but he looked either bored, uncomfortable, or a not-fun mixture of both.

Worse still, he looked _put off_. The one time he decided to come over on his own, and he looked like he wasn’t even welcome.

Aw, tits.

Magnus buried his focus on the wooden craft. He _hated_ this. He hated being too tired to be enthusiastic because he wasn’t getting enough sleep at night. He hated how his disjointed thoughts were keeping him from focusing on things that really mattered to him.

And he _really_ hated how what he saw in those scrolls was making it so hard to trust anyone. People he once took out for drinks, trained with, fought alongside, he was definitely distancing himself from lately, and it made him feel truly terrible. He wasn’t even sure if it was them he didn’t trust or _himself_ , but he wanted nothing more than to not let it eat him away like this, to get back to important things, like being there for his friends.

Like poor Taako, here. Geez. The guy was really trying, too. Friends were hard for the elf, that much Magnus could understand, but something or other inspired him to really give it a shot tonight. And now he was just stewing in his seat, no thanks to his hospitality.

Magnus swallowed, and set down his tools. “Taako--“

“I mean _seriously_ what is going _on_ here!?” He jumped in his chair at the sudden volume in the tiny elf’s voice, not to mention him slamming his hands on the table. His tools clattered just a little from the force.

Aghast, Magnus offered, “Look, Taako, I’m sorry--!”

“Listen, dude, if I ever did, or say something to tick you off you just gotta--“

“What! What!!!” Magnus was reeling. God, what had he done? “I--no, Taako, you’re fine! You’re more than fine!! You’re great! You’re awesome!!”

He watched the irate confusion cross Taako’s features, and deflated back into his chair. “ _I’m_ the one who’s lame.”

“ExCUSE me!” Taako scoffed loudly, standing up from his chair in contrast to Magnus’ defeated posture. “Who am I even talking to!? The guy who rips off arms like who gives a shit and uses chains to take out colossal robots?!? ‘Magnus rushes in’ and all that jazz?!?”

He looked up finally as Taako planted his hands firmly on the table, leaning forward to drill his point home. “You are Magnus Fucking Burnsides. You are the _furthest thing_ from lame.”

Magnus sat there, flabbergasted. It never failed to surprise him, whenever the usually bumbling elf dropped some profound sincerity. It felt like there wasn’t even any room to doubt that at all. “I… wow. You, really mean all that, Taako?”

“Of course I do, dipshit!” With that, the elf hopped back into his chair, though still kept himself leaned forward and engaging. “What I wanna know is what the hell’s up with, _this_.” He gestured erratically to Magnus’ general space.

“Ha! Heh. Hehe,” he chuckled weakly, running a hand through his hair. “Buddy, I’d like to know that too.”

The firmness in Taako’s face faltered. “…oh.” He chewed at his lip and leaned back, as if he’d said something wrong.  Aww his ears were turned down and everything. “Shit, I--“

“Look, it’s okay, really,” Magnus quickly assured, finally meeting his gaze. “I’m just… I got a lot on my mind right now, is all. Especially after everything that went down in Refuge.”

“Goooooddddddd don’t I know it!” Taako flopped back to groan dramatically up at the ceiling, and Magnus appreciated the relatable gesture. “That whole chalice business suuuuucked.”

“For real.”

His theatrics done, Taako gave him a look over. “…I’m gonna wager you don’t wanna talk about it, though.”

“Yeah, no, I really… no. I don’t.”

“That’s fair.” The elf gave pause, as if considering his next words carefully, or hesitating to say them at all. “But hey, uh. If ever you change your mind, y’know… I’ll, be? Here?”

They came out like the kind of words Taako rarely used or put together in such a fashion, and Magnus was endeared beyond belief. That succeeded in getting a wide, familiar grin out of him, at last. “Thanks, Taako. I really appreciate it.”

“…don’t mention it,” the elf replied sincerely, a goofy glower replacing it soon enough. “Seriously, don’t.”

Magnus laughed heartily, and looked over his toolset and materials. Idly, he grabbed a fresh chunk of moon-wood, tossed it up a couple times, and then held it out to Taako. “Here.”

“…what.”

“Can’t be all that fun, watching me carve. You try it.” He passed over an extra whittler.

“Uhhh, oh. Ohhhhhh. Ooookay.” Taako seemed unsure again, but Magnus was certain that was only because of unfamiliarity. Patiently, he guided the elf along and got him started, watching him work the knife awkwardly like he was peeling vegetables, tongue sticking out in concentration and everything. Aw gosh.

And watching him, inspecting his work, giggling at his little quips, made Magnus forget, if only briefly, about everything that kept him awake at night. Who knew that letting someone close enough was all he really needed?

Well, he thought, he might as well give back.

“…hey, Taako?”

“Yeah? Hang on a sec, almost got this curve out…”

“I’m really glad you’re my friend.”

A thick shred of wood shaving chipped off suddenly and bounced off his face. Magnus flinched, then chuckled. “Whoops. Cut a little too close?”

Taako blinked out of his stunned stupor and glanced down at his piece. “…aw shit.”

“Hey, not bad for your first time!”

“Not bad? Magno, it looks like a potato.”

“A _great_ potato.”

**Author's Note:**

> this is my first time writing fic in a long while, first time for this fandom. i just really really really like the idea of magnus and taako as Best Friends and especially trying to cultivate it after the eleventh hour.


End file.
